Overview of the allegations revealed in the US indictment against Adani

US Prosecutors have charged Gautam Adani with collaborating with executives of a $265 million plan to bribe Indian authorities to advance the solar energy company's solar power projects. The accused companies were based in New York. Adani Group has called the accusations "baseless" and said they will take legal advice and respond.

What are the federal indictment's charges?

Prosecutors in the US have accused six individuals, including Gautam Adani and his nephew Sagar Adani, the director of Adani Green. The indictment and arrest warrant against Gautam Adani and the executives are based on bribery and fraud charges in connection with renewable energy projects in India.

The indictment says these projects benefited both Adani Green and Azure Power, an Indian business listed on the NYSE until 2023.

According to the unsealed indictment, the executives of Adani Green and Azure "knowingly and wilfully conspired" and agreed to "corruptly" propose, approve and pay bribes to government authorities in India to "obtain or retain business advantages."

While seeking funding from American investors and lenders, Adani and his executives allegedly made false and deceptive claims about the company's anti-bribery pledges and policies.

Adani raised more than $3 billion in loans and bonds between 2021 and 2024, with some of the investors being Americans.

Another key charge in the indictment showed that the Adani's allegedly deceived Indian stock exchanges and investors earlier this year, even though they were informed about the US probe in 2023.

As per the Indian markets regulator - the SEBI - rules, this amounts to deceiving Indian investors. Leading business journalists have called on the SEBI to probe this particular allegation.

Separately, the US Securities and Exchange Commission filed a civil case and said, "Gautam and Sagar Adani were engaged in the bribery scheme during a September 2021 note offering by Adani Green that raised $750 million, including approximately $175 million from US investors.

The SEC added, “The Adani Green offering materials included statements about its anti-corruption and anti-bribery efforts that were materially false or misleading."

A Bloomberg report showed that the market crash in Adani group stocks once again caught ESG fund managers off guard.

Shares of Adani Green Energy, which are held by around 770 ESG funds globally, saw a 25 per cent decline in value following the US indictment.

While the group stocks recovered some of their losses, the wipe-out in Adani firms' market value is still above $25 billion.